The theater quiets as the lights dim. The thick velvet curtain silently sweeps to either side of the stage to reveal seven of the Peking Acrobats all lit in blue. They are dressed in simple white clothes, palms upturned, each hand holding four rods capped by spinning plates. A musician plucks an ethereal melody on a stringed instrument as the woman in the middle places her left foot on a male performer’s head and her right foot on the head of another. Two other acrobats walk beneath her legs, rods precariously angled. Not one of the 56 plates falls.
Were it not for China opening to the West in the 1980s, this show would not be in front of an American audience. Now a crew of 27 acrobats is on the road for their 24th North American tour, traveling to 40 cities in three months, including Columbus.
“We were the first to bring Chinese acrobats to the United States,” Don Hughes said. Hughes, co-producer for the Peking Acrobats, went to China in 1985 with artistic director Ken Hai to bring the Peking Acrobats to the West.
Peking, also known as Beijing, is the capital of China. Most Chinese acrobats-to-be have been training since the age of 5 or 6. They are then hand-picked and trained by Hai, a fourth-generation acrobat from Taiwan, for the acrobatic company. After an “intense” three-month rehearsal period in Beijing, the team travels to Los Angeles to combine their training with the production elements of the show.
Cynthia Dike-Hughes, another co-producer, explained that acrobats have specialties, much like Western athletes. A contortionist sticks to her act, just like a professional baseball player wouldn’t play basketball.
Because of these specialties, the show is filled with unique segments that change every year with the performers. In one current act, 10 acrobats pile onto a standard-sized bicycle as it’s being pedaled around the stage. In another, white chairs are stacked 20 feet into the air as an acrobat does a one-armed handstand from the top. Dike-Hughes’ favorite act in this year’s show is a woman doing ballet on the head of another acrobat.
The Peking Acrobats “are a gift from the Chinese people to the West,” Dike-Hughes said.
Traditional elements of this more than 2,000-year-old art include the lion dance, contortionists and live musicians on Chinese instruments, such as the stringed “ex-hu” or the lute-like “pipa.”
Since Peking is in northern China, the lion dance in the show is the more playful Northern style. Northern lion dances are whimsical acrobatic productions with pairs of “lions” tumbling around the stage on giant balls and various props, even rising up on their “hind legs.”
The costumes have giant smiling heads and bright, shaggy bodies
designed for two acrobats; sometimes the lions come prancing down into the audience, too.
Watching the Acrobats accomplish the seemingly impossible resonates with viewers.
“We feel that art is a reflection of life and that art should elevate as well as entertain,” Dike-Hughes said. “The heart of the show is that you can be the best you can be … It’s an uplifting experience.”
“I’ve seen children as young as 4 sit through the whole show with their mouths open,” Hughes said.
Another result of China opening to the West is the ability of individual acrobats to go out from Peking Acrobats and do individual tours with their personal abilities. For example, a Peking Acrobats alumnus, Shaobo Qin, played Yen in the movie “Ocean’s Eleven” and its sequels.
The Peking Acrobats will be downtown at the Palace Theatre Feb. 23 at 8 p.m. Tickets start at $22.50. See capa.com for more details.
